“Brownie” is still the head of FEMA, the Washington Post reports. He was recalled from New Orleans so that he could head up the Bush administration’s preparations for the NEXT disaster.
Whether Brown is planning to manage the next disaster or simply planning the next disasteri.e. planning to create it, or make it much, much worse, as was the case with New Orleansthe Washington Post doesn’t say. Regardless, I can feel a Medal of Freedom moment coming on.
Between our rag and the Cure’s “Killing an Arab,” Camus’ novel probably has gotten some good free advertising.
However, it must be acknowledged that the naming of The Stranger had nothing to with Camus, and everything to do with Billy Joel.
Although I’m sure it’s nothing compared to, say, “grunge” being featured in NME, it is a little crazy to see a big spread on “cool Northwest indie rockers” in the debut issue of Nylon Guys, the pop culture mag’s new male offshoot. Although they’ve barely played a handful of shows, members of Bats of Belfry, Band of Horses, and Moon Rats are artfully displayed alongside photos of the Vells, Spencer Moody, and Sam Jayne—who technically is a New Yorker now. Lovely photos of some handsome men (and one lady)…in a magazine that claims it’s “not for girls.”
I wonder if The Stranger has actually increased awareness of Camus’s novel. I woulnd’t be surprised if this were the case, at least in Seattle.
Seattle + Stranger still beats “Seattle Weekly,” fyi. Not as triumphantly, but we still win, even without Camus.
In the forums, Josh (not Feit) has a few other fair-fight suggestions.
I agree with Dan about the Stranger v. Weekly Googlefight: Camus may be significantly swaying victory in our favor.
But that doesn’t mean Googlefight is without charm or purpose.
For instance, I finally got answers to some eternal questions, including:
Beatles vs. Stones (Stones rightfully win by a hair!)
Coke vs. Pepsi (Coke is triumphant!)
and
God vs. Allah (God kicks Allah’s ass like there’s no tomorrow.)
If you didn’t catch this terrific piece on Slate earlier in the week, here’s the link. You should read it. Jack Shafer, always thrilling, makes the case against rebuilding New Orleans. Shafer has, as he predicted in the piece, most likely been buried under hate mail since the piece ran, but he crafts an awfully persuasive argument.
And it would be better if it measured queries rather than results.
The Stranger vs. Weekly Googlefight may not be quite the beating it appears to be. We seem to come out on top, but how many of “our” hits are actually Camus’ “The Stranger,” I wonder? Half? More?
Googlefight: Stranger vs. Weekly, courtesy of my darling husband. Brilliant.
An organizer with Lambda Legal asked me if the Stranger wanted to pitch in with the “day of the decision” party @ Volunteer Park to celebrate the (expected) state Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality. I passed that request along to Dan (I’ve got no power around here).
Now, we obviously love the gays, and we love a party. But Dan immediately, and loudly, declined, because there’s a glaring problem with this Volunteer Park celebration: Location, location, location:
The celebration should be in a civic space, not the gay ghetto.
In other words, let’s celebrate at the county building, where licenses are issued, and where this state Supreme Court case literally began, when Ron Sims escorted couples into the marriage licensing office (only to turn down their requests for applications). The county building is the most logical and meaningful gathering place, just as the downtown Federal Courthouse was the best place to gather in impromptu celebration of the Lawrence v. Texas U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Volunteer Park, as Dan points out, is mainly symbolic of Seattle’s gay ghetto. It’s in the middle of Capitol Hill, it’s known for hook-ups in the bushes, and it’s the annual (at least until next year) end point of the debaucherous gay pride parade.
I pointed this out to Sarah, at Lambda Legal. She replied:
Every two years around this time, campaign mailers start showing up in voters’ mailboxes. Renters like me tend to get left out of the loop, because we move around and mailing lists get updated only every few years. So far this year, I’ve received exactly one campaign mailer - from King County Council member Larry Gossett, who’s running for reelection on the newly redistricted county council. Unfortunately, I don’t live in Larry Gossett’s district - my neighborhood is represented by Larry Phillips, whose district stretches from Greenlake to Boeing Field. I shudder to think how much money Larry Gossett has wasted on glossy campaign flyers for people who aren’t even in his district.
This decision, if it goes our way, is about full civic equality for Washington state’s gay and lesbian citizens, and the celebration should take place in a shared civic space, not in a park in the gay neighborhood where gay men have sex in bushes.
Dan, the marriages have to be consummated somewhere.
So Lambda Legal, the Northwest Women’s Law Center, and the ACLU are planning a celebration when the Washington State Supreme Court releases its decision on gay marriage. Planning a celebration when we don’t know if the decision is going to be pro-gay marriage seems a bit jinxy, but it’s best to be prepared.
They’d like the Stranger to be a part of the celebration somehow, just as we were part of the push to get gay marriage on the Supreme Court’s plate. But we’re going to give the planned party a pass, I think, based on its location: Volunteer Park.
This is one gay party that should be downtownat the County Building or our new City Hall. This decision, if it goes our way, is about full civic equality for Washington state’s gay and lesbian citizens, and the celebration should take place in a shared civic space, not in a park in the gay neighborhood where gay men have sex in bushes. Even if people can’t get their marriage licenses immediately after the decision is handed down, the celebration should be in a civic space, not the gay ghetto.
I think Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the Northwest Women’s Law Center should call Ron Sims and Greg Nickels. Sims stood in the door to welcome the couples who were suing him into the county building, remember? Nickels issued executive orders forcing city agencies to recognize legal gay marriages performed in other states. Surely there’s a reception room in the huge County Building, or one in the new City Hall, that would be more appropriate to the occasion than Volunteer Park. Sims and Nickels, who have both been excellent on the gay marriage issue, should be the hosts and guests of honor at the party celebrating the decision. They should throw open the doors again and invite the city’s gay and lesbian community to come down to these civic spaces, spaces our tax dollars helped construct, and celebrate our civic equality. This isn’t a “gay ghetto” moment, it’s a mainstreaming moment, and the event being planned to mark it should reflect that.
And what if it rains, for crying out loud? And, from a strategic POV, it’s easier to fill a room, even a large one, than it would be to fill the park. If TV cameras come, the park, even with a couple of hundred people in it, will look empty. What will that communicate? That gays and lesbians don’t really care about marriage rights. The same number of people packed into a reception room at City Hall, will look like a joyful mob, not a half-assed clump.
And, again, what if it rains?
I think The Stranger should do something when the decision comes down, but we shouldn’t attach ourselves to something stupid, or to an event that fundamentally misunderstands the symbolism and importance of the day. Let’s host a party the night before the first gay marriages are - knock wood - performed. We can make it a benefit for the organization that gets the celebration right.
People in the audience at our Candidate Debate Wednesday night turned in a bunch of questions for the candidates. We couldn’t get to all of them. Hell, the candidates were bickering so much, we couldn’t even get to most of our own questions.
We’ve forwarded all the audience questions to the candidates, and we’ve asked them to e-mail responses back. We’ll post their responses.
Here are your questions:
Breaking news on ABC:
Embattled FEMA Director Michael Brown was officially removed from hurricane relief duties. Sources tell ABC News that Brown will be out at FEMA soon.
Immediate follow-up report posted on the beloved-by-Drudge Breitbart.com here.
Every year, Project Censored, a media watchdog group based at California’s Sonoma State University, scours the media looking for news that never really made the news. They publish their results in a book, this year titled Censored 2006.
Here’s the list:
…and help raise money for hurricane relief. For $5, donors get access to the gallery of mardi-gras style flash photos, beads and all.
One of my favorite local galleries, Roq la Rue, is moving next month…luckily they’re only moving next door, to a space that’s three times as big. According to owner Kirsten Anserson, “In addition to monthly shows we’ll have lots more art and prints- as well as a small bookshop with only the coolest art and pop culture books. We’ll be open in the new space Oct 14th in time for our annual Halloween art show!” Tonight, check out a surreal art show by DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh. The opening is from 6-10pm.
At 10 am this morning, tickets for the Death Cab for Cutie/Harvey Danger show on Wednesday Sept 21 at the Showbox go on sale via TicketsWest. The show was announced earlier this week, and all proceeds of the $30 ticket charge will go directly to benefit Hurricane Katrina reflief efforts. It’s a 21+ event. It will undoubtedly sell out, so act fast.
Think the Stranger is rude, mean, and just plain heavy handed when it comes to bashing the Weekly?
It could be much worse. Check out this piece in the SF Weekly by New Times Media executive editor Michael Lacey, attacking the SF Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann, who recently published a piece about a potential merger that would affect the SF Weekly (not to mention the Seattle Weekly…).
It is no secret in our industry, or anywhere in the greater Bay Area, that Brugmann is bull-goose loony. Consequently, sane people desert any room that Brugmann is sucking the oxygen out of. Why engage a homeless paranoid in conversation about the contents of his shopping cart?
See, we would never say something so mean about Weekly editor Knute Berger.
This just in from the Vera Project:
“The Vera Project is thrilled to announce our new Executive Director - Shannon Roach. Shannon comes to the Vera Project with years of experience working in the youth/music field in the Seattle area. Most recently, she has been the Program Coordinator of the Old Fire House in Redmond, the longest running all-ages venue in the Pacific Northwest.
In March, Vera’s founding Executive Director James Keblas resigned when he was appointed to be the Director of the Seattle Film and Music Office. Kate Becker, founding Artistic Director of the Vera Project, has been the Interim Director for the past six months. Co-founder Shannon Stewart is Vera’s Program Director. The Vera Project is very excited to have Shannon Roach on board as our new Executive Director. Shannon’s first day will be September 19, 2005.”
